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July 23, 2007
Boulder Peak Race Report
Well, it is Monday and I have completed two major items on my to-do list over the weekend - completed my first Olympic (or slightly over Olympic distance as they seem to say on the web site, although to be honest I am very confused by all triathlon distances except Ironman and Half Ironman) distance triathlon and I have also completed reading the final Harry Potter novel. Yeah, I feel pretty good about this weekend!
Anyway, here is the report of my race for all those who are interested. I will not be posting a review of the Harry Potter book, however :)
Race Day:
I woke up at 4:10 am. Awesome! Just kidding. Luckily I had gone to bed around 9:20 Saturday night so it didn't feel that bad. I put my contacts in, got dressed, and left.... and once I got on the interstate I realized I had forgotten my two water bottles, one of which was filled with water and the other with icky sports drink. Um, whoops! So I got off on the next exit, headed back home, and ran in to get my bottles. If it wasn't going to be 100 degrees (no, I am not exaggerating) I probably wouldn't have bothered and would have just gotten water and sports drink at the first aid station, but it was, so I went back. This probably did affect my bike's position in the transition area, but who am I kidding - it just doesn't matter that much. Anyway I drove to the Boulder Rez and parked, got my body marked, and set up my transition area. Now that I am a grizzled veteran with this triathlon business I knew to bring smaller towels, which I think was definitely a good call - a bath sized towel just seemed to get in the way. I then trotted off to do a two mile run as a warmup, get-the-ridiculous-amount-of-adrenaline-out, and of course get the digestive systems moving exercise. It was right when the sun was about to rise so it was really beautiful, and I just appreciated being out there in Boulder.
Anyway after the warmup I went to the bathroom (where I seriously almost puked, why are race porta-potties SO disgusting?!), dropped off my running shoes, sprayed my wet suit with PAM (note: really should do this after putting the wet suit on as a slippery wet suit is not good), and headed to the starting area. I sat and relaxed in the grass and stretched, and then put my wet suit on and did a quick warmup. And I mean quick - I probably swam for a minute. I just needed to prove to myself that I can still swim in open water. And here is the race:
The swim - 1500 meters, 33:54
What a marked improvement! What I learned here is that practicing swimming for a long time in open water is really a good thing. I swam like a normal person the whole way and did not panic. Yeah! This was as good a swim as I could hope for. I even passed a few people!! Granted this is still my biggest area for improvement, but this was so much better than in the sprint.
T1 - 1:58
I was so out of breath from actually swimming and from running up a big hill to the transition area. But I just wiped off my feet, put my bike shoes, helmet, and sunglasses on, and ran out. It was really nice having one other tri under my belt so I kind of knew what to do.
Bike - 26 miles, 1:25:02, average 18.4 MPH
So the bike in this race is infamous for one very large hill up Old Stage Road. And there is a good reason for this! I was in my easiest gear, going about 5 MPH, for a large portion of the hill. And I was passing people! I really did not feel that bad, but after this effort all other uphills, both on the bike and on the run, really hurt. Before I do this race again I will be practicing riding up big hills, so they don't wreck me so much. I do think that next year I can get my average MPH up and over 19 if I just practice riding uphill more. The rest of the ride after the really big hill was downhill (so fun!!) and then just rolling.
T2 - 1:24
Well this was not too exciting. Got my bike in, put my socks and running shoes on, and went. I was actually feeling pretty good, surprisingly!
Run - 10k, 51:16
Yeah, that feeling good thing didn't last all that long. My first mile was a 7:55 and I think each one after that was slower. It was really hot and my legs burned at every uphill. Not that there were a ton of these, but there were enough! I drank water or gatorade at every aid station except one, and I was just feeling kind of parched. The course is all loose dirt, which is kind of annoying when one is very tired, and there is no shade. I think it was already over 90 degrees when we were running. I do feel that I should have left a little bit more out on the course, but in my first tri of this distance I think I am going to chalk that up to a good learning experience.
Overall time - 2:53:35. Age group rank - 38/107. So my age group place slid three places (well, really two as I had the exact same time as the girl who is in 37th), but it was a larger feel so as a percentage of my age group I did better than the sprint. I think I can improve a lot next year if I swim more (and practice some drills over the winter), bike up long, steep hills more, and do a few more bricks after hilly rides. But it was really fun! I do feel that this race, which is one of the biggest tris in the country from a competitiveness perspective, was way more serious and you could definitely tell that in the atmosphere. But they do a great job with it as it was really well organized and I had a great time.
My legs felt pretty stiff yesterday but today they feel good. I haven't run or anything, but I'm planning on going to the gym after work and running a few easy miles or just stretching out. And that is about all the news for now!
Posted by barb at July 23, 2007 8:59 AM
Comments
A BIG WOO-HOO to you Barb!!! I'm so excited for you - that you had an awesome first Olympic distance tri experience and finished so well! 90 degrees, hilly and at altitude - yikes - they will all be easier after this one! :) Big congrats and I hope the recovery goes well! :)
Posted by: Beth at July 23, 2007 12:00 PM
hey!!! nice job!!!! it sounds super fun and you did awesome-even in the heat! how cool are tris?!?! cheers!
Posted by: Audrey at July 23, 2007 12:25 PM
Barb,
Congrats in your second tri racing experience! It sounds like the swim went a million times better this race, and that's awesome.
Aren't early race morning wakeups the worst? I think they are the worst part about racing... Sigh, I guess complaining isn't going to make them any better, right? :)
Congrats again!
Posted by: Meghan at July 26, 2007 8:24 PM